Clamp



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Nov. 20, 1962 R. M. NESTER CLAMP Filed April 2, 195

1 .Ijfljfi INVENTOR 3,064,325 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,064,325 CLAMP Raiph Miller Nester, Faullr and (Ihesteriieid Roads, Wiimington 3, Bel. Filed Apr. 2, 1953, Ser. No. 725,854 3 Claims. ((12 1-19 The present invention relates to the art of clamping devices and, in particular, to laboratory clamps.

Clamps presently available in the art tend to be complicated, expensive, and not entirely eifective for clamping glass, metal, or other objects of round or odd shapes.

The object of the present invention is a new and improved clarnp. A further object is such a clamp especially suitable for clamping odd shapes. Other objects will be appreciated from the following description of the invention.

The clamp of my invention comprises a support for holding the object to be clamped, a strap adapted to partly surround said object and hold it against the said support, and means for fastening said strap. This fastening means preferably includes a compression spring, a rotating cam with associated lever, and a block.

The invention may be more readily understood by referring to the accompanying drawing.

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the cam assembly. FIG- URE 2 is a side view of the said assembly. FIGURES 3 and 4 are views of the rotating cam. FIGURES 5 and 6 are views of the grind block for the spring and cam assembly. FIGURES 7 and 8 are views of the compression spring.

Referring in detail to the various figures of the drawing and the parts thereof, it will be noted that the object 7 which is to be clamped, is disposed as shown in FIG- URE 1 against the support 6 and held in contact therewith by the soft metal strap 4. This strap at one end is fastened at 8 to the metal tube 5 and is removably fastened towards its other end at 9 by the clamping assembly including the compression spring 1, rotating cam 2, and grind block 3. When clamping the object, the strap 4 is pulled handtight through the clamping assembly. The cam 2 is rotated by the lever 10 in a counter-clockwise direction. This tightens the soft metal strap in two directions, that is it pulls it back and also lowers it down. Both of these motions, due to the rotation of the cam, provide a highly effective clamping reaction. The spring 1 also serves two purposes. It eliminates the need for precision machine work and it gives permanent lock to the strap.

The foregoing description is illustrative and any suitable equivalents may be used for the various parts. While I prefer to use the soft metal strap, it may alternatively be made from any suitable, flexible material, such as fabric or plastic.

My clamp is highly advantageous for clamping all forms of glass, metal or other objects of round, uneven, or odd shapes. In addition to being highly effective, it may be produced at a low cost.

I intend to be limited only by the following patent claims.

I claim:

1. A clamp comprising a support, a strap adapted to partly surround an object to be clamped and hold the same in contact with said support, and cam-activated fastening means for said strap consisting in a rotating cam having two flat surfaces adapted to lie parallel to said strap, a lever for rotating said cam, a compression spring, and a second support, said compression spring being held in place by said second support, said cam being rotatably mounted on said second support whereby a portion of the said strap being disposed between said cam and compression spring is firmly clamped therebetween by rotation of said cam.

2. A clam comprising a main support; a strap adapted to surround partially an object to be clamped and to hold the same in contact with the said main support; and mounted on the said main support a cam-activated fastening means for said strap comprising a housing, positioned in said housing a rotatabie cam, in juxtaposition to said cam a compression spring positioned between the said main support and the said cam and held in place by said cam and said housing and in locking and unlocking relationship with said cam as desired, and positioned between said cam and said spring the said strap, being slideable longitudinally when said cam is in the opened position and being held fast when said cam is in the closed position bearing against it and it in turn bearing against said spring.

3. A clamp in accordance with claim 2 in which the said support has at the clamping end thereof two extensions for contacting said object, each extension bearing an aperture through which said strap passes, one end of said strap being fixed to the main support near the said clamping end and the other portion of said strap passing to said housing in said slideable and clampable relationship therein.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITnD STATES PATENTS 413,529 Mandt Oct. 22, 1889 458,188 Rasmussen Aug. 25, 1891 712,140 Kelley Oct. 28, 1902 793,049 Buffelen June 27, 1905 907,542 Vogel Dec. 22, 1908 1,435,684 Anderson Nov. 14, 1922 2,053,018 Bell Sept. 1, 1936 2,284,314 Wetzler May 26, 1942 2,381,349 Hagen et al. Aug. 7, 1945 2,693,015 Richards et al. Nov. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 599,261 France Oct. 17, 1925 715,774 France Sept. 29, 1931 

